A billion dollar banana industry at risk of a deadly disease could be saved by this scientific breakthrough from a Queensland university.
A team of researchers at the Queensland University of Technology has genetically modified Cavendish bananas using a wild gene, resulting in strongly resistant and Panama (TR4) disease-free plants across a three-year trial.
A billion dollar banana industry at risk of a deadly disease could be saved by this scientific breakthrough from a Queensland university.
It is a major step towards protecting the $12 billion ($A17 billion) Cavendish global export business.
Fusarium wilt of banana, popularly known as Panama disease, is a lethal fungal disease caused by a soil-borne fungus. Although the disease probably originated in southeast Asia, the first recording of the disease was made in 1874 in Australia, where it was observed near Brisbane. It was then reported from Panama in 1890.
TR4 can remain in the soil for more than 40 years and there is no effective chemical control for it, which poses a huge problem.
The world-first trial was conducted in heavily disease-infested soil outside Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory. A new five-year trial will take place with the aim of growing 9000 plants.
